The morning wind gusted fiercely ten meters above the ground. The fragrance of freshly hewn red pine sap mixed with the faint aura of magic lingering in the air.
The 'Magic Observation Tower' stood tall at the corner of the newly constructed second-tier city wall. Its structure was sturdy and flawlessly refined, a testament to Notch’s architectural design. Atop the tower, a fist-sized magic crystal was embedded in the center of a stone pedestal, pulsing with a soft blue light like a beating heart.
Lloyd Weston stood with his hands clasped behind his back at the tower's balcony, his gaze sweeping over the spiked palisades toward the vast plains and dense forest line.
His silvery-blue hair fluttered in the wind. A dull headache still throbbed in the back of his mind. His mana status bar read 35/100. Linking his consciousness to a magical structure drained his mana passively, but in exchange, it granted him superhuman vision.
System... report the area scan results, Lloyd commanded in his mind.
Ding!
[Function: Magic Observation Tower (Active) ]
[Detection Radius: 2 Kilometers (Pierces partial Fog of War) ]
[Status: 'Suspicious Unit' detected at the edge of the southeastern forest]
A blue holographic window flashed before him, pinpointing the exact coordinates. Lloyd narrowed his eyes, peering into the distance far beyond the reach of normal human sight.
Beneath the shade of a massive oak tree nearly two kilometers away, a figure completely shrouded in a 'Grey Cloak' stood perfectly still, blending into the environment like a chameleon. The figure held a pair of magic-lens binoculars, unblinkingly observing the movements within the Verdant territory.
"Found you again..." Lloyd muttered, his eyes turning cold.
"Found what, My Lord?" Frank, standing guard behind him with his trident, stepped closer and craned his neck. "I don't see anything but trees and wild birds."
"Someone is spying on us, Frank. Over at the southeastern treeline," Lloyd replied without taking his eyes off the target. "This is the third day in a row the Magic Observation Tower has picked up this guy's signal. He watches us for two hours a day, records some data, and then vanishes."
Frank's eyes widened, the muscles on his arms bulging instantly. "Another one of Baron Reinhardt's spies?! Should Sylvie and I sneak out and take him down? I'll crush his bones to dust!"
"He's not Baron Reinhardt's man," Lloyd slowly shook his head.
The former RTS world champion thoroughly analyzed the target's movement patterns. "The Baron's spy we encountered in the Elven Forest was just a basic stealth unit. But the way this Grey Cloak hides... it's flawless. No footprints, no mana leakage. It's like a high-tier 'Stealth Unit' in a game."
"Stealth? Unit?" Frank scratched his head, confused by the bizarre terminology, but he could sense the tension in his master's voice.
Lloyd didn't elaborate. He remained focused on his observation.
The man in grey didn't care about Verdant's new walls or troop count. Instead, he was fixated on counting the 'resources' entering and leaving the territory, and observing how Lloyd commanded the villagers from afar. It was Behavioral Analysis rather than military reconnaissance.
And just as Lloyd was about to order the system to zoom in closer...
The man in grey lowered his binoculars, as if sensing he was being watched from two kilometers away!
He looked up directly at the Magic Observation Tower. Even though his face was hidden beneath the grey hood, Lloyd could feel his cold, emotionless gaze. The figure then took a single step back... and 'faded' into the forest shadows like a wisp of smoke!
[Alert: Suspicious Unit has left the detection radius]
[Mana Remaining: 32/100]
Lloyd took a deep breath, his hand gripping the wooden railing tightly.
"Vanishing in an instant without using teleportation magic..." Lloyd gritted his teeth. "Elder Aura was right. Baron Reinhardt is just a pawn... but these guys in grey, they are the real 'Rule Keepers'—the shadow unit keeping an eye on me."
Being spied on without being able to retaliate left the young Baron feeling incredibly stifled. If the enemy came out in the open, he could formulate countermeasures. But an enemy hiding in the dark, constantly evaluating his worth? That was a tactician's worst nightmare.
"Let's head downstairs, Frank," Lloyd turned and walked toward the stairs. "Marcus should be back from the border town by now. I need to hear his intelligence report immediately."
Inside the temporary accounting room of the village hall.
Marcus Grey, the middle-aged merchant, downed a clay cup of water in one gulp. He was covered in dust from his long journey, his favorite silk cloak stained with mud—a testament to his desperate rush back to Verdant.
The moment Lloyd and Frank pushed the door open, Marcus quickly set the cup down and bowed.
"Lord Lloyd! I have returned!" Marcus greeted with a frantic voice. "I have urgent... very urgent news to report to you!"
"Calm down, Marcus. Take a seat first," Lloyd gestured to a wooden chair before taking his own usual seat. "Was your herbal caravan ambushed again?"
"It's not an ambush, My Lord. Ever since we established the Adventurer's Guild, no bandit dares approach our trade routes anymore."
Marcus slumped into the chair, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "But what I found out through the merchant networks in the border town... is far more chilling than any forest bandits."
The traveling merchant leaned forward, lowering his voice as if the walls had ears.
"Over the past three or four days... a 'mysterious group' has been showing up at taverns and trade guilds in the neighboring towns," Marcus whispered. "They dress covertly in 'Grey Cloaks,' pay handsomely with pure gold coins lacking the Empire's crest... and they've been going around asking bizarre questions about you, Lord Lloyd!"
The term 'Grey Cloaks' made Lloyd and Frank instantly exchange a look. Lloyd's earlier suspicions had just been confirmed by ground intelligence.
"What exactly did they ask?" Lloyd asked flatly, though his eyes gleamed sharply.
"They were digging incredibly deep!" Marcus flipped open his small notebook. "They didn't ask about our revenues or trade routes. They asked about the 'origin' of your intelligence! They asked the merchants who have visited us... if Lord Lloyd's behavior has changed from the past. Have you ever used strange magical tools or spoken in a vocabulary that ordinary people don't understand?"
Marcus swallowed hard. "What's worse... they tried to investigate our 'bamboo aqueduct system' and our 'herringbone market layout.' They questioned how a sickly young boy who coughed up blood his whole life could suddenly possess high-level engineering knowledge... It's as if they are hunting for your 'true identity,' My Lord!"
A chilling silence descended upon the accounting room.
Lloyd interlaced his fingers on the desk, tapping his thumbs together in deep thought. Elder Aura's suspicions were entirely correct. The 'Rule Keepers' had noticed the anomalies in Verdant and were gathering data to confirm if he was a 'System Holder'!
If they ever became certain, the seamless erasure of his existence would begin!
"And how did the merchants respond to them?" Frank asked anxiously.
"Most merchants just told them what they saw—that the Baron is a hidden genius," Marcus replied. "But there are no secrets in this world. The faster you grow, the more the eyes of those Grey Cloaks will fixate on this place... I tried to find out who they work for, but even the underground assassin network shook their heads. No one knows their origins!"
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Baron Reinhardt was a visible threat, but the Grey Cloaks were an amorphous one.
"They're smart..." Lloyd muttered to himself. "They know that storming in to inspect us directly might startle the snake. So, they're pressuring Baron Reinhardt to send an army to squeeze us instead. If we are backed into a corner and slip up by using supernatural 'System Powers' to survive... they will record the evidence and execute us immediately."
It was the most ruthless strategy to lure the tiger out of the mountain!
Lloyd slowly stood up and walked over to the window, looking out at the training grounds where the E-rank adventurers were clumsily swinging swords at wooden dummies.
"On this chessboard... we are at too much of a disadvantage," Lloyd said with a heavy tone. "We have city walls, a watchtower, supplies, and a growing economy... but what we still lack are actual 'fangs'."
The young Baron turned back to meet Marcus and Frank's eyes.
"We have Frank as the vanguard, Sylvie as the sniper... but that's not enough to handle the Baron's heavy cavalry and the Inquisitor arriving in a few days," Lloyd assessed the situation coldly. "Relying on an Adventurer's Guild full of amateurs is like using paper to block fire... We urgently need 'professional combat units' to reinforce our ranks!"
"Professional combat units? But where are we going to find them, My Lord?" Frank frowned. "All the skilled mercenaries have been bought out by the high nobles, and they charge exorbitant fees!"
"We're not going to hire those money-hungry mercenaries, Frank."
Lloyd walked back to the desk, the eyes of a tactician burning bright. "Marcus, you are a merchant who travels across the continent. Do you happen to know... any highly skilled warriors, fallen knights, or magic users who are being 'hunted,' 'oppressed,' or unjustly framed, to the point where they have no place left in Imperial society?"
"Eh?" Marcus's eyes widened. "Someone like that... why would you want someone with a criminal record?"
"Because those downtrodden individuals are the most valuable resources that society overlooks," Lloyd smirked. "They have nowhere to go, no choices left, and a burning desire to prove themselves... Just like Notch and Sylvie. If we offer them a 'home' and 'trust'... they will gladly offer their lives to be the sharpest sword for Verdant!"
Using the [RTS] system to scout and scavenge for abandoned SSR-tier units—this was the leapfrog strategy Lloyd chose to combat a much stronger army!
Marcus stroked his chin, thinking hard. His brain processed data from all the rumors he had heard over the past several months.
"A fallen knight... a hunted magic user..." the merchant murmured, before his eyes suddenly snapped open as if he remembered something!
"There is one person, Lord Lloyd!" Marcus slammed the table in excitement. "I just heard a rumor from the western port city last week! They say a 'former Magic Knight Captain'... currently has a bounty on her head and is being hunted down mercilessly!"
Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "A former Magic Knight Captain? On what charges?"
"Charges of 'Treason' and assassinating her commanding officer!" Marcus whispered with a trembling voice. "But the inner circle of merchants rumors that she was framed because she uncovered high-level Lords embezzling military supplies! She had to flee for her life... and someone spotted her heading towards our borders, trying to escape into the Western Forbidden Forest!"
"Her?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, My Lord. It's a woman... the famously renowned Black Sword Magic Knight," Marcus gulped. "Elisa Blackwood!"
Silence fell over the temporary accounting room once more. The name that had just escaped Marcus Grey's lips seemed to cast a spell, making everyone in the room hold their breath.
"Elisa Blackwood... the Black Sword Magic Knight?!"
Frank was the first to break the silence. The giant youth's eyes went wide, his greyish-blue irises shaking with shock. "I've heard her name from traveling merchants back when I was just a farmer! Isn't she the heroine who led the knights to wipe out the disaster-level monster nest in the North? Rumors say her magic is as overwhelmingly powerful as her swordsmanship... Someone of her caliber, charged with treason?"
"In the Veltine Empire, sheer competence won't protect your head, Frank... Sometimes, it only expedites the beheading."
Marcus sighed heavily. He reached into his dusty cloak pocket, pulled out a crumpled wanted poster, and flattened it onto the table.
The ink portrait depicted a young woman with striking, beautiful facial features. Her eyes in the drawing looked fierce and resolute, her shoulder-length hair tied back loosely. Beneath the portrait was crimson text stamped with a terrifyingly high bounty.
'Wanted Dead: Elisa Blackwood, Former Magic Knight Captain. Crimes: Assassinating a high noble and sabotaging the military. Bounty: 5,000 Gold Coins!'
"Five thousand gold coins..." Lloyd muttered. This amount was enough to buy three of the old Verdant territories combined!
"She didn't assassinate anyone, My Lord," Marcus explained bitterly. "My informants in the underworld confirmed that Elisa was an overly righteous knight. She accidentally uncovered a military supply embezzlement and illegal slave-trading network, with 'high-ranking nobles' in the Capital pulling the strings..."
Marcus lowered his voice to a whisper. "And right as she prepared to present the evidence to the Emperor... she was set up. They assassinated her own commander and pinned the blame entirely on her. The loyal Black Sword Magic Knight became a traitor to the realm overnight."
Lloyd listened calmly, but the former world champion's brain was frantically processing the data.
A Magic Knight... Lloyd opened the database of RTS memories he had mastered. This is the 'Vanguard' class—the rarest hybrid frontline! They have sky-high physical defense like a tank, but possess Area of Effect (AoE) magic skills that can wipe out entire companies of infantry! Plus, they have leadership buffs that boost the morale of surrounding troops!
A cold smile crept onto Lloyd's lips. The throbbing in his temples seemed to ease as he found the missing 'piece' to this chessboard.
Initially, he had a headache figuring out how to counter Baron Reinhardt's heavy cavalry and destructive mages... But if he could pull 'Elisa Blackwood' in as the commander of Verdant's military... the Baron's army would be nothing but sitting ducks!
"She is the 'Magic Hero Unit' we've been looking for..." Lloyd murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming. "If we add her to our ranks alongside Frank as the physical carry and Sylvie as the sniper... our party will be perfectly balanced to crush a mid-sized army with ease."
"B-But My Lord!" Frank protested anxiously. "She's a fugitive with a five-thousand gold bounty on her head! If we take her in, aren't we basically declaring war against the entire Veltine Empire?!"
"Frank... do you think our current situation is any different from being an enemy of the Empire?" Lloyd turned and smiled at his giant bodyguard. "Baron Reinhardt is on the verge of slapping us with a treason charge anyway. The Imperial Inquisitor is already on the way... Since we're going to be labeled traitors regardless, what difference does it make to take in one more?"
Lloyd's shamelessly logical argument left both Frank and Marcus speechless.
In the world of nobility, maintaining one's image and innocence was paramount. But Lloyd completely disregarded all of that. All he saw were the 'stats' and 'abilities' of personnel that could be used to turn the tide!
This is practically an 'NPC Rescue Event' (Hidden Character Rescue) , Lloyd thought enthusiastically. If we save a fallen, betrayed unit right at her moment of absolute despair, her Loyalty meter will max out the very day she joins our army!
Lloyd placed the wanted poster back on the table, leaned forward, and stared seriously at Marcus.
"Marcus, you said someone saw her heading towards our borders, right?" Lloyd pressed. "How far away is she? And how did someone of her caliber even manage to flee this far?"
"My informants reported that villagers saw a young woman in a tattered cloak, carrying a massive black sword, staggering near the 'Whispering Gorge,' which is only ten kilometers away from our western border," Marcus explained, pointing to a spot on the map on the desk.
The merchant gulped again. "She made it this far because she is one of the most brilliant Magic Knights. But she's not in peak condition... Word is she was ambushed with poison-coated weapons. She is severely injured, and the mana in her body is almost completely drained. She's pushing her body to the limit to enter the Western Forbidden Forest to escape the Empire's pursuit..."
Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "The Whispering Gorge... If she's that badly injured, she can't be moving fast. We still have time to intercept her before she slips into the Elven Forest."
"It's not that simple, Lord Baron!" Marcus quickly interjected, his voice laced with dread. "She's not fleeing alone... There are 'hounds' hot on the trail of her blood!"
"Hounds?" Frank frowned. "Imperial soldiers?"
"Much worse!" Marcus explained. "When the royal soldiers couldn't take her down, those corrupt nobles poured money into hiring the 'Black Blood Hunters'! They are death-defying mercenaries who specialize exclusively in assassinating magic users! Rumor has it they dispatched twenty elite killers equipped with anti-magic crossbows and toxic smoke bombs. They've tracked Elisa all the way to the Whispering Gorge!"
The atmosphere in the room instantly tensed.
"Twenty bounty hunters against a severely injured target..." Lloyd calculated the risks and outcomes in a split second.
This situation was a 'crisis within a crisis'. If he let the bounty hunters capture or kill Elisa, Verdant would lose a golden opportunity to acquire a Hero-tier unit. And when the Imperial Inquisitor arrived, the territory wouldn't have enough military power to negotiate whatsoever.
But if Lloyd sent people to save her, it meant clashing with elite bounty hunters, and potentially exposing his tracks, allowing the 'Grey Cloaks' spying on the territory to clearly witness the power of his [System] !
"We don't have time to hesitate," Lloyd decided decisively. His eyes shifted into the cold gaze of a nocturnal predator.
"My Lord! You can't be thinking of..." Frank's eyes widened when he saw Lloyd's smile.
"Frank, go get Sylvie down from the observation tower immediately," Lloyd commanded loudly. "Tell her to prep her bow and arrows to the fullest. We are going out to 'steal' an SSR-tier asset right from under those bounty hunters' noses!"
Marcus's jaw dropped. "L-Lord Baron! Are you really going to clash with the Black Blood Hunters?! They are completely ruthless!"
"I have no intention of negotiating for their mercy anyway," Lloyd adjusted his noble's coat, pulling his hood up to conceal his face. "They are just bounty hunters... But I am the Lord of this territory. Anyone who dares to hunt prey in my domain... without paying taxes... is going to face a very heavy fine!"
The former RTS world champion was about to lead his small party out on the most dangerous hostage-rescue mission yet!
This wasn't just about helping the downtrodden. It was a 'gamble' with their lives to buy time and military strength for Verdant before the massive storm from the Empire crashed down upon them!
While Lloyd, Frank, and Sylvie rode out of the city gates into the dark of the night...
At the Whispering Gorge, ten kilometers away.
The sound of heavy, ragged breathing echoed against the stone cliffs. The figure of a young woman in shattered, bloodstained knight's armor was forcing her battered body forward. Her right hand gripped the hilt of an incredibly heavy, pitch-black sword, clutching it like her final lifeline.
Elisa Blackwood bit her lip until it bled. Her vision was blurring from the poison surging through her veins, yet she continued to step forward with an inextinguishable resolve.
However... the howling of the hounds and the footsteps of a dozen assassins were closing in from behind... inching closer and closer... along with the shadows of death reaching out to grasp the neck of the Empire's former heroine!
(End of Chapter 15)